The present invention refers to a device to compensate for an external sources' thermic effects on a sensitive element in a system which automatically controls the temperature reached by foods in vessels heated by a gas burner or by an electric heater, of the type comprising means to set the desired temperature for said foods, comprising normally a knob, whose output signal is compared to the output signal of the sensitive element which is pushed in contact with the bottom of the vessel by springs.
Said automatic control system detects behavior which deviates from the optimum as the influence on the sensitive element from thermic sources external to the heating means for the vessel increases. For instance if a gas burner (or an electric heater) is located above a cooking oven for foods, the heat produced by the oven reaches said sensitive element located near the gas burner or the electric heater and affects the output signal from the element.